Why am I so Unlucky!
by IcexColdxPrincess
Summary: This is one of my many stories, it's mostly following the original storyline of Bleach but with my own OC -Sazuki- and my friend's OC -Machi- added to it. Since they're there there will be changes from the original story. It's good,  I SWEAR  try it.
1. Chapter 1: Best Friends?

The alarm clock rings so loudly, the vibrations cause it to land on my face. Not exactly a fun way to wake... "God damn alarm clock..." I say pushing it off the bed and rubbing my now soar nose. "I should sue the alarm clock company..." I mumble as I step on it on my way to the kitchen. That thing has injured me twice in five minutes! I wouldn't have thought it was possible...

I've lived by myself since I first came here, so I always had to do everything around the house, or should I say apartment. I've debated hiring a maid several times, but I don't really work so that would just bankrupt my tiny savings and then I'd have to live on the streets. I'd rather clean than beg for change any day. Actually... I wouldn't reduce myself to begging- I'd sooner mug a person. I know, I'm dark- people have told me many many times.

Blowing off some dust from atop the small TV, I head towards the kitchen. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so I have been led to believe. If they've been lying to me all this time...

After my usual breakfast, consisting of a cup of milk and a bit of toast, I quickly got changed for school. Shoving my arms through the jacket sleeves I sigh. "I really don't see the point of going to school here... but people will start to wonder why a kid my age is out of school..." I think as I grab my bag and rush out the door, hoping that I remembered to pack everything I would need for the day. As I leave the building I get the strange feeling that I've forgotten something. Something important...

"Damn it! I've been stuck here a year already and I still can't figure out how to get back... I swear I have the worst of luck..." I think as I rest my head on my desk. I don't even recall ever breaking a mirror. Ever. Though maybe my love for black cats is the cause of all this...

I hear the door slam shut and do my best to redirect my attention to the front. It's not really working... I manage to focus in time to hear the teacher say, "Students! Can I get your attention please? Today we have a transfer student joining us! Please tell us your name and a bit about yourself."

I look up at the teacher only half interested, more like less than half, a third? A quarter? "A new student? Anyone I know?"I wonder as I look at the girl standing up at the front of the class. She had light brown hair and teal coloured eyes. "Nope, don't know her." And there went most of my focus.

"I'm Machi Umeki and... yeah!" the girl says while writing her name on the chalkboard with lots of underlines and doodles.

"She's a little on the strange side isn't she...? Oh well. Who am I to judge humans?" I think, watching her out of the corner of my purple eyes.

"Erm... thank you for the decoration... but how about telling us a bit about yourself? Any likes or dislikes? How about hobbies?" the teacher says while sweatdroping at what Machi had written on the chalkboard.

"Uh... I like... uh... manga? And... ramen and sushi? And uh... taking pictures?" Machi finally replies, pausing at every other word. It seems like she isn't a fan of having everyone's attention concentrated on her.

"What's so hard about talking in front of an audience? She's weird... but there's something about her..." I think while examining her.

"Thank you, now find an empty seat somewhere. There seems to be one beside Sazuki," the teacher says pointing at me. "Sazuki, wave so she knows where you are."

Good thing I was half listening or else I could have gotten detention for daydreaming- which I get all too often... I raise my hand a bit and wave lazily. The new girl nods her head showing she isn't blind and walks over to sit beside me. I decide it couldn't hurt to talk to her so I say, "Hey, where did you transfer from?" I didn't care about the lesson anyway so I am focusing on Machi at the moment. Hopefully she can prove more interesting than the Algebra being written on the board. Hopefully- though right now, I have my doubts.

"From Tokyo," she replies simply. Doesn't she know how to continue a conversation? Has she been living under a rock? I have better social skills than her; which is really, really sad, everything considered.

After that quick exchange of words we don't talk for the rest of an extremely boring lesson. And the lesson after that, and the lesson after that. God she is boring...

The bell rings for lunch and I stand up gratefully. "Yes! It's lunch time!" I exclaim happily. I do a few quick stretches and sit back down to eat my lunch. I open my bag to suddenly realize that this is what I felt I was forgetting! "NOO!" I exclaim. "I'M GOING TO STARVE! WAIT! Did I pack any money?" I question myself while frantically looking through my bag. I luckily find it and run out of the classroom in hopes of getting to the cafeteria before all the food is gone.

I get to the cafeteria only to have my hopes crushed. "Damn it all... too late..." I mumble as my face droops in depression looking at the huge line to get to the counter. "There'd better be food when I finally get there!" If there isn't... I may just steal some.

"I'm gunna go to a store... This is ridicules!" a voice from behind me says. I turn around to see Machi standing there.

"Hey, can I go with you? I don't think I'm going to survive until this line clears up!" I ask her while my stomach growls. "See what I mean?" Whatever she replies, I'll following her anyway.

Machi looks at me and replies, "Uh, sure..." She pauses for a moment and then continues, "Where should we go then?" Good choice.

"I know a great sushi restaurant nearby! You like sushi, right?" I ask her uncertainly, thinking back to her introduction which I hadn't paid too much attention to.

"Yup." was her quick reply. "Does she not like me? Or is she just antisocial...?" I think as I lead her out of the cafeteria and down a street. If she's new to town then she's probably never been on this rundown street, I bet this is giving her a bad impression. We stop in front of a small sushi restaurant. This store is one of my favourite places to eat. I wonder what made me decide to show this random chick one of my super secret special stores. Oh well, too late now.

I notice her eyeing the restaurant as if it was a giant mutant earwig and quickly say, "They're a small company, but their sushi and prices are great!"

"Yeah!" she exclaims, smiling. It seems fake to me, but then again- this is the random antisocial new girl from class, I don't know all that much about her. This may be the best smile she's ever had.

"Come on, let's go in," I say as I grab her hand and drag her inside. Now she's looking at me like I'M the giant mutant earwig's mother.

"OK" was her only reply. Frigging antisocial chicken chick...

I stare at her and finally say, "You don't talk much do you..."

"Uh... Well I don't have anything to say..." she replies. I just keep staring at her. God damn boring sociopath... After a while I sigh, and walk up to the counter.

"I would like an order of Alaska rolls please," I say to the guy.

"That will be $2.50," he says holding out his hand for the money.

"Wait! I want Pocky too!" I exclaim as I run to grab a box of chocolate Pocky and return to the counter.

"Alright then, that'll be $5.63," he says after recalculating. I hand him the money and sit at a table while I wait for my sushi.

I watch as Machi goes up to order as well. A few minutes later she also sits down at the same table.

A few minutes pass without saying a word. The silence is broken by the guy at the counter, "Your orders are ready."

"Yeah!" I exclaim as I run up to grab my sushi and then go back to my previous spot. "I love sushi!" I break my chopsticks and begin eating. Halfway through my sushi my soul pager rings. "Are you kidding me? Now? Damn... I'm not done eating..." I think as I look sadly at my sushi.

I take out my container of soul candy I got from Urahara's store and pop a pill into my mouth. My soul leaves the gigai and I stare at it. "Don't do anything stupid! Just sit there, OK?" I tell the soul quickly before leaving. On my way out I notice that Machi looks almost like she could see me, but I decided to ignore it and just keep running. After doing quick work of the hollow, it was a weakling and a waste of my time, I return into my gigai.

Machi gives me a weird look and says, "Why were there two of you?" I stare at her in shock, "Could she have seen me?"

"W-what are you talking about? Two of me? How silly!" I reply quickly and nervously.

"There were two!" she exclaims still staring at me.

"You must have imagined it," I say more calmly. Horray for acting lessons!

She stares at me in disbelief and says, "Nuh uh!"

I look at my watch hoping for an escape and gasp. "You have got to be kidding me! We're late for class!" I exclaim, jumping out of my seat and running out the door. From behind me I hear Machi shout as well, but I ignore her and keep running.

"I hope I don't get into too much trouble!" I push the main doors open and slide a bit on the newly polished floor, "When did the janitor have time to polish the floor? I am so going to get him back for this..." I quickly turn a corner as I plan many devious ways to exact my revenge, and slip. "SHIT!" I yell as I crash into some lockers. "Damn that hurt... He is _sooo_ going to pay for this..." I quickly stand back up and run the rest of the way to class. I open the classroom door and stand there panting.

"You're late Sazuki! And where is Machi?" demands the teacher angrily. Crap... not another detention! I'm not a bad student, I swear, and yet I probably have more detentions than the rest of the class combined...

After regaining my breath I answer, "Dunno she was behind me." At that moment Machi walks into the classroom. "Found her!" I say, stating the obvious for lack of anything better to say.

"I'm right here! So what we miss?" Machi asks. "Anything important?"

The teacher gives us a semi glare and says, "Take your seats, and I'll see you two after class!" I glare at the teacher and then take my seat. "Damn! I ran out of that place so fast I didn't get to eat a lot... I'm still hungry... my poor poor sushi... It better at least be feeding some homeless guy instead of rotting in a garbage..."

Machi also takes her seat and grumbles something incoherent.

The rest of the day goes by slowly, with no excitement what so ever. I like it better this way. No hollows to get me extra double detention!

Finally it was time for our detention. Beside me I hear Machi mumble something about plans.

"I'd like to hear your explanation to why you were so late," the teacher says as she sits down at her desk and looks at us, waiting.

"We went out to eat... and... forgot the time," says Machi looking like she didn't want to be here. Can't blame her. I debate whether I should feign sleep and just run around in my soul form.

"Do you know how many kids I have in detention? That's one of the most common lies," the teacher replies obviously not believing it. That's just probably cause it's one of my main excuses.

I was getting a bit pissed, "It's probably really common because it's true! And it's true every time I say it!" I want to say that, but instead I say, "Well this time it isn't a lie! The cafeteria was crowded so we went somewhere else and lost track of time!"

"I mean if we were late on purpose don't you think that we would have skipped school all together?" Machi asks, making a good point. I might be starting to like her.

"When we saw we were late we ran here as fast as we-" I got cut off by my soul pager ringing. "Oh god! Not now! Any time but now! I refuse to get even more detention!"

Machi looks at me and say, "What the fuck... your phone's weird. Why do you have that weird tone?" The soul pager rings for a bit more, "Aren't you gunna answer it?" I ignore her. Nothing good will come of trying to come up with an excuse.

The teacher doesn't give me enough time to check it as she says, "That phone is mine! You can have it back at the end of the week!" I stare at her, "This isn't good... It looks like I have no choice..." I grab my memory eraser and quickly use it on the teacher. She stands there dazed for a while, I take that chance to turn around and face Machi. Now it's time for the sociopath to get her facefull.

"What the fuck was that?" asks Machi staring at me. When I don't answer she asks again, "Uh... Hello? What was that thing?"

At that moment Keigo runs back into the classroom exclaiming, "I forgot my bag!" As he goes to grab his bag he knocks me over and sends the memory eraser flying out of my hand. Keigo runs back outside soon afterwards and I walk over to the object to inspect the damage. "I can't believe my luck! It's broken! Now what am I going to do about that chick's memory?" I think desperately. I could always knock her out- I memorized the pressure points on the human body, it would be easy. There may be lasting damage, but that's not my problem.

Machi is staring at where the memory eraser landed and questions, "What the fuck is that thing?" Choosing to ignore her again I get ready to strike her when my soul pager rings again, reminding me of the hollow I have yet to kill.

"Shit... I forgot about that!" I say while I quickly grab my soul pager and check the location. "What? It's here?" I exclaim loudly looking out the window. I don't have time to grab my soul candy since it was fast approaching so I just leave my gigai empty. I'll deal with antisocial later.

"WHAT THE FUCK? DID SHE DIE?" shouts Machi. She walks up to where I am standing and looks out the window as well. Shouldn't the normal response be to check for a pulse? Scratch sociaopth, maybe this chick is a psychopath.

"Damn it- Move!" I shout as I'm forced to grab Machi and my gigai and jump out the newly broken window. A hollow's claw landing where we were seconds before. I land on the ground safley and give a sigh of relief, "Damn that was close..." Way too close. Am I losing my touch?

Machi is looking shocked, up at the wrecked classroom, "What the fuck was that thing?" Machi then starts mumbling nonsense, "That... That... Ew... That... zombie? Vampire? Eh... witch? Um... wackoly shaped werewolf?" She is soooo psycho...

The hollow has disappeared right after it tried to hit us. "What the hell are you talking about?" I ask the mumbling girl.

"That thing? W-what was it?" she asks looking where the hollow had just been. I simply stare at her, seriously tempted to knock her out right then and there.

I take out my soul pager and examine it. "Where are you going to pop up next...?" I wonder out loud. Just then the signal reappears, coming from right in front of us. I swiftly take out my zanpaktou and block the hollow's claw. I really am getting sluggish...

Machi stares at the hollow then says, "What the... Fine I quit..." She lies down on the ground and closes her eyes. I stare at her in disbelief, then regain my composure. "I guess she can't see them after all," I think while slashing off the hollows arm. The hollow shrieks with pain and before I have a chance to do anything it hits me straight in the stomach with its spiked tail. One of the spikes impales me in the stomach and I double over in pain, blood running through my fingers.

Machi sits back up and stares at the direction of the hollow and says something. I stopped paying attention to her a _long time ago. _I look up at the hollow about to strike and ready myself for the blow, when- Urahara appears!

He looks at me, shakes his head and says, "Look at the mess you've gotten yourself into Sazuki."

I give him a semi glare, "What-what are you doing here?" I ask him. Isn't he supposed to be lazy? Why would he take the time to come here?

Then, Jinta takes a running charge at the hollow and hits it with his overgrown bat. "We're here to finish off the job you couldn't take!" he says smirking. I just glare at him and stand up, still holding my bleeding stomach.

Machi, who hadn't moved an inch since the hollow had reappeared, says, "OK... I really do want answers... What the frick is that thing?

"But first..." I let go of my stomach and grip my zanpaktou. I jump up and finish the hollow off. I land back on the ground and look at my stomach, "Urgh... Damn..." I groan. Next time I see another hollow, it's not going to get off so easy- I will finally have a reason to employ the several torture techniques I think up during class. I never pay attention to class so I'll have to choose my 25 favourite and then narrow it down from there.

Urahara looks at my stomach too and says, "Now how did that happen?"

I give him a deadpan look and reply, "How do you think?"

Jinta rests the bat on his shoulder and says, "Well, that hollow attacked you, obviously."

I glare at him and reply, "No duh..." I'm not in the mood for the little idiot.

Machi finally speaks up, "Hollow? Is that what you call that thing?" I had forgotten she was there. It's not my fault, it's easy to overlook antisocial people.

Her words make me look at her in shock. "Can you see it?" I ask.

She quickly replies, "Duh..."

I stare at her at a loss for words, when I finally find my voice again I say, "I can't believe you can see it... er... Normal people should not be able to see it!"

Her reply doesn't shock me as much as it should, "Well... I've never been normal..." she says. I kind of figured... No surprise there.

I look up at the sky when I notice it had started to darken. "Wow... it's already getting late! I should head home," I tell her, trying to find. "And so should you!"

"Yeah I should," she replies as she takes out her cell.

I start walking towards where my gigai is laying and say, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Get a good night's rest."

She seems uncertain for a moment then replies, "Eh... yeah! See you tomorrow!"

I get to where my gigai is and sigh, "Of course... it got damaged during the fight... looks like I'll have to talk to Urahara," I think as I turn around to look for Urahara, to my dismay he had already left. I sigh at my luck and burn what was left of my gigai. "To Urahara's place..." I say to myself as I start towards his place when I suddenly reopen my wound. "Great... just great..." I grab hold of my stomach and finally get to Urahara's place. I knock on the door and sit down while I wait for someone to answer.

Urahara himself opens the door, "Ah, Sazuki! What brings you by here?" he asks with a smile. That damn smile...

I stand back up and reply, "Well... my gigai is trashed and my memory eraser is also broken."

Urahara stands aside to let me in and says, "My, my. Well lucky for you I have another gigai and memory eraser in stock!" He goes into a back room and brings out a new gigai and memory eraser. "Here you go! Now be a dear and try not to break these ones too," he says with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll try" I say as I hand him money.

He counts over the money, smiles and says, "Perfect, thank you! Now, we're going to need to do something about your wound."

"Huh?" I look back at my stomach to see it was still bleeding. "Oh right... sorry about your floor..." I say looking behind me to a trail of blood I had left.

"It's no problem! Ururu! Can you come and clean up this mess?" he calls. A few seconds later Ururu appears with a mop and a bucket of water. I marvel at her speed. She starts working immediately.

"Now I can't have you leaving like that! Spend the night and heal up, I can get Tesai to help you," he says while waving his fan. "I insist!" he says when he notices my doubtful face. He leads me into a room and shows me my bed. I thank him and lay down, immediately falling into a deep sleep. Deep enough so that I don't hear my soul pager go off a few minutes later.


	2. Chapter 2: An Old Friend

I sit up and stretch, "Time to get out of bed," I say stifling a yawn. "Hey wait! I stayed at Urahara's last night! I wonder if my injury is healed yet..." I think as a take a quick glance at my stomach. To my relief and surprise I find that there was only a thin scar left. "Oh wow! Tesai's medicine really works!" I poke my stomach to make sure it's OK and stand up.

Urahara then walks into the room, "I'm glad to see you're awake! Anyway, you should get ready for school," he says waving that annoying fan of his.

My eyes widen, "What time is it?!" I demand looking around for the new gigai I had gotten the previous night.

Urahara just laughs at my actions and says, "Don't worry you still have at least two hours before school starts. I thought I'd wake you up early so you wouldn't blame me for being late."

I glare at him for giving me such a scare, "Well now I can blame you for lack of sleep!" I tell him as I look around for my bag and gigai.

"Oh, your school supplies and gigai are in another room. The one beside yours in fact. By the way... you may want to finish your homework," said a smiling Urahara with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"What?! I totally forgot about that!!!" I exclaim as I rush into the other room, get into my gigai and start my homework. While looking through my bag I had also come across the pocky I bought yesterday, and since I hadn't had breakfast yet I ate them. "My poor poor sushi...." I say, thinking back to the unfinished sushi I didn't get to eat yesterday. At that moment, I decided to go back to that sushi place today too! I finish my homework as quickly as I can without making it look like too big of a rush job. I take a peek at the clock to see I have half an hour before school starts, I put everything back in my bag and leave the room.

Before I leave the shop I turn to Urahara and thank him for letting me stay the night and for healing my wound. He told me it was no problem and ushered me off to school, saying to come back if I need anything else.

I get to the school and sit down under a big tree. It was ten minutes before school starts, but I didn't feel like waiting in class for some reason. I sit there quietly for the next ten minutes thinking about Machi, the strange girl who could see ghosts. The bell rang and brought me out of my thoughts. I made my way to class and sat down at my desk.

I heard the teacher start talking, but I didn't pay much attention to what she was saying. I had too many things to think about. I didn't pay attention to anything at all that morning, I barley even heard the bell ring signalling lunch. The bell did snap me out of my thoughts though. "Huh? It's lunch already?" I say, a little disoriented.

From beside me I hear Machi, "Yeah!" she says pleased it's lunch time. I wanted to go back to that sushi restaurant again today and hopefully this time not be late for class... I don't want to break another memory eraser! I made my way out of the school dodging other hungry students.

I got to the sushi restaurant and ordered what I had had yesterday, even the pocky. This time I was able to quickly finish my sushi and I stored the pocky in my bag for later. I thanked the cashier and left for the school again. When I got back there were still 10 good minutes of the lunch break so I climbed a tree and sat there.

Looking down I see Machi walk up to the tree and say, "Wachya doing?"

I jump off the branch and land in front of her, "Nothing, just sitting," I say. Even though this gigai was nowhere near as good as my own body, it could still do a few things.

"No more of those things today?" she inquires, "Wait! Wait! I mean hollows!"

I glare at her, "How can she say that so loudly?!" "Keep your voice down, will you?!" I demand.

"OK," she whispers.

I sweatdrop, "It doesn't have to be that low," I inform her, "Just low enough so it doesn't attract people's attention."

"Uh... whatever... So how come there wasn't any?" she asks curiously. She looks at me waiting for an answer.

"They don't come every waking moment, but my work isn't over yet," I reply. "I wonder when It will be over and I can go back... I mean seriously... how do you get locked out of the Soul Society?!?!"

"So is that all you do?" she inquires, "Kill those things? I mean hollows...."

"No, I also have to conso the souls of those who haven't become hollows yet," I reply.

"Uh huh.... so... That's how they disappear?" she asks.

"When I conso a spirit I send it to the Soul Society, humans call it passing on." I explain.

"Oh..." was her only response. The bell rings before either of us can say anything else. I was late yesterday and I didn't want to be late again, so I took off towards the classroom in a dash. Machi was close behind me. We both reach the classroom before the teacher does, so we're safe. I then go sit down at my desk.

Before I knew it, it was time to go home! What a quick day that was! I pack my bag and leave the school. I was just about to head home when my soul pager rings! I flip it open and quickly follow the signal, passing by Machi on the way. I hear the hollow howl, so I quicken my pace and rush over to its location. When I get there, there was already someone fighting the hollow. A shinigami with bright orange hair. "Hey... he looks familiar... is that... is that Ichigo?!" I wonder out loud in amazement.

Machi walks up behind me, probably heard the hollow, and says, "What the... Sazuki you're here again!"

I look at her, "Of course! I followed the signal!" I say waving my soul pager in her face.

"What... you have a signal?" she asks astonished. "How did she think I knew where the hollows would pop up?!" I wonder looking at her. She takes at look at my soul pager and seems to understand.

I spot a small black haired girl a few meters away from us, who seems to be watching the fight, "Hey who's that?" I ask Machi, pointing to the girl.

Machi finally notices her too, "OH MY GOD! IT'S THE NEW STUDENT!" she exclaims loudly. "Huh? A new student? She looks familiar...." I think as I walk up to the girl. Behind me Machi said something, but I wasn't paying attention.

Machi got to the girl before me, and said something causing her to jump. I get to the girl and am startled. "Rukia...?" I ask.

She turns around to face me, "Huh? Sazuki?"

There was no longer any doubt in my mind, it was Rukia! I give her a big hug, "Yes! It is you!!!" I feel so excited, "Maybe she'll know a way to get back!"

Machi looks at us confused, "Woah... you guys know each other?" she asks.

I let go of Rukia and turn to face Machi, "Yup!" I answer happily.

"Where from?" asks Machi.

I beam at her and reply, "From the Soul Society!"

"Oh... that place..." Machi says.

"Wait..." beings Rukia with a questioning look on her face, "She knows about the Soul Society. Does that mean she can see ghosts?"

To give Rukia foolproof evidence I point to where Ichigo is fighting the hollow and say, "Machi, describe what you see happening over there." "If she describes it accurately then Rukia will know her abilities," I think happily.

Machi looks where I'm pointing and says, "That orange haired kid who was late for class today is fighting one of those hollows with a sword."

Rukia looks amazed, "Oh! So she can see them! Is she from the Soul Society too?" she asks curiously.

"Nope, Tokyo," was Machi's simple reply.

"Oh... so you're like Ichigo?" questions Rukia.

"Uh... I guess," replies Machi uncertainly. While they were talking Ichigo finished off the hollow and then told Rukia something about duty and protecting people, I was too busy thinking, "I may finally get back!" to listen.

When Ichigo finished talking to Rukia he looked at us. "And who are you two?" he asks eyeing us suspiciously.

I stare at him, "He can't be serious! Can he? I'm in his class for crying out loud!" "I'm in your class," I tell him with a 'you can't be serious' look.

"I'm the new transfer student from yesterday!" Machi says, with a grin on her face.

Ichigo looks at us like he doesn't believe us, "You are?" he asks doubtfully.

I stare at him, "Short term memory loss?" I taunt.

Machi gives him a deadpan look and says, "Are you retarded?"

Ichigo glares at both of us before answering, "No!! I uh..... just don't remember faces too well...."

I smirk and decide to tease him, "Sure..." I say sarcastically, "That's why..." He just glares at me more, making my smirk grow larger.

"I say he's retarded but... yeah... whatever," Machi says not believing him. Ichigo just glares at us again. "He's making this way too easy! Teasing him is fun!" I think with a big grin on my face.

Machi decides to make Ichigo fell a bit better so she says, "Well... I don't really know you either, so if you don't know me, I'm Machi Umeki and nice to meet you too." All Ichigo does in response is mumble something and walk away.

"He's weird.... then again... so are most humans..." I watch as he walks away and yell after him, "Well... see you tomorrow in class!!!" Machi also yells her goodbyes, and then he turns a corner and is out of our site.

Rukia was just about to leave when I stop her, "What are you doing here anyway?" I ask.

She turns to look at me and replies solemnly, "Well.... I accidently gave him my soul reaper powers.... so I'm waiting for them to come back."

I gap at her, "But... But it's a crime to give your powers to a human!" I say, almost as if trying to talk her out of something. Machi said something and Rukia said something back, but I was too shocked by Rukia's news to pay attention.

Rukia looks at where Ichigo disappeared and says, "Well.... I should get going now, bye!" She waves then turns around and chases after Ichigo.

I was still a bit shocked, "I can't believe she did that..." I mumble.

Machi looks a bit lost, "Why, is it that bad?" she questions.

"Let's just say that if she doesn't have a good enough excuse, they may have her killed!" I explain, trying to make her see the gravity of the situation.

I turn my back to Machi and say, "I think I'm going home... it's been a long day and I need to finish my homework anyway." I start walking away then soon turn a corner and disappear from Machi's sight. I walk the rest of the way to my apartment, refusing to think about anything. Even through my best efforts though, a few thoughts slip through like, "What will happen to Rukia if the Soul Society finds out?" and "I guess that means I won't be going back..." I unlock the door and step inside. I shake my head to clear those thoughts away and sit down to try to finish my homework. The homework helps me forget my troubles for a while, but when I lay on my bed waiting for sleep to get me those thoughts come back. I finally drift off into a heavy dreamless sleep.


	3. Side Story 1: Part 1

**This story isn't part of the Bleach plot and is basically like a filler. You don't have to read it for it holds no significance to the plot, but I would appreciate it if you did take the time. **

**Also, side stories have no place in the plot so they will be placed randomly through out the actual stories.  
**

(This is a random little side story that we decided to make. We may make more side stories later.)

I wake up with the sun shining on my face. A quick glance at my alarm clock tells me that I actually woke up an hour earlier then I had to. It was spring break so I didn't have any school, but me and a few friends had arranged to go camping for a few days or so. We were leaving today, I already had everything packed. We were going to meet by the park. I didn't know exactly who was going on the trip, other than me and Machi, we had been together when Michiru invited us. I quickly do my morning routine and go to the kitchen for breakfast. "I should have a riceball or two somewhere..." I mumble looking through the fridge and cupboards. I finally find them and plop down on the couch munching on them contently. I hear my phone ring so I pick it up quickly, "OK, it's just a call, not a hollow," I think, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey Sazuki!" I hear Michiru say on the other line. "I just need to double check that you're coming today. I don't remember if you said you were or not..." she trails off, slightly embarrassed.

I laugh a bit and say, "Yeah, I'm coming. I'm already packed, so I'll see you soon."

"Great!" she exclaims happily, "I'll see ya soon! Bye!" she says as she hangs up.

"Bye," I say, and also hang up. Grabbing my bag and soul candy, you never know when a hollow might show up, I head out the door and towards the park. When I get to the park it looks like I was the first one there, so I look for a bench and take a seat. A quick look around reveals Machi lying on some grass. "Where's Michiru?" I question.

"I dunno," Machi replies boredly.

I look towards the street where a bus was parked, "Well if she doesn't get here soon the bus will leave without her," I state, "And she's the one who invited us in the first place..."

Soon after I say that, Michiru runs up to us, "Hey guys, sorry I'm so late," she apologizes.

I turn towards her and ask, "Anyone else coming?"

She shakes her head, "Uh, not that I can think of. Everyone else said they couldn't make it..."

"Well then, let's go," I say, picking up my bag and heading for the bus. Machi and Michiru follow.

"This'll be fun...." Machi says, with her I find it hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or not. I just nod my head in agreement. We then both find a seat and sit down.

Michiru does the same and says, "Yeah! I hope so!" After a long and boring bus ride we finally arrive at an area before a forest, with several tents and a wooden building that seems to be where you can rent out a campsite.

"Yay! We're finally here!" exclaims Machi happily as she jumps out of her seat and runs off the bus.

I stand up and stretch, "The bus ride was like two hours..." I complain as I grab my bag and exit the bus. Michiru follows behind quietly.

"So... where's our campsite?" Machi asks, "And are we staying in a tent? Cause I didn't bring a tent...."

"Now that she mentions it...." "Yeah, me neither..." I say, slightly annoyed at myself.

"Yeah, we're staying in a tent!" Michiru exclaims happily, she then notices our expressions and quickly says, "Oh! Don't worry, I brought the tent though!" I breathe a sigh of relief, "At least someone's prepared..." I think.

"I hope it's big..." I say, slightly worried.

"Of course it is! Haven't you seen some of those huge tents that fit up to like, 10 or 20 people?" Michiru asks. "Now that she mentions it... I never have heard of them... I guess a year in the world of the living isn't enough to learn everything about them," I conclude looking around.

"So... Anyone know how to set up a tent?" I ask hopefully. The look on both their faces clearly says they don't.

"I don't know," Machi says, and just as I lose hope she adds, "But we can ask the people at the front desk to help us."

"Hope so," I say as I head towards the building. I walk through the doors and go straight up to the desk since there was no line. "Hey um... where are we supposed to set up? And anyone know how to set up a tent?" I ask the girl at the desk.

"What name are you under?" she asks as she takes out a list and begins searching through it.

"Oh crap.... Well, since Michiru's the one who invited us, I guess it should be under her name right?" I debate in my head and then finally answer uncertainly, "Michiru?"

Apparently my logic was correct, "Ah yes, you're over there," she says pointing towards the start of the forest. She then hands me a map and ushers me away. "Umm thanks?" I say and I leave the building.

Once outside I realize something, "Hey wait! How do we set up a tent?!" I yell towards the building, but she made no sign of having heard me. I sweatdrop, "Oh great..." I think as I walk back to the others.

"Uh.... so you find out?" Machi questioned uncertainly, I bet she heard me yell at the building, "They gonna come with us and set it up for us?" I shake my head.

"Oh, I see..." Michiru says, a bit depressed.

"So uh.... This is normal right? We'll figure it out ourselves, right?" Machi says uncertainly.

"You're starting to make me nervous," I say. "I'm worried, that we may have to leave, and we just got here," I think, slightly worried. I put my hands in my pockets and feel the map the girl had given me earlier. "Oh by the way!" I say and I take the map out of my pocket, "Here's a map! To our campsite!"

"Ok, you lead!" Machi says, and ushers me to start going.

"Uh... yeah!" Michiru quickly agrees, "That might be a good idea! For now..." I raise an eyebrow and give her a questioning look, "What does she mean, for now?"

I try my best to follow the map, I'm honestly not that great with directions or maps. "This is the right way.... Right?" I question uncertainly, fearing I was leading them the wrong way.

"You better not be misreading...." Machi informs me, strengthening my fear. I sweatdrop slightly and smile what I hope to be reassuringly.

I keep "following" the map until I spot what appears to be an abandoned cabin in the middle of a thick grove of trees. "Hey look!" I call to them, "Can we sleep here instead?" A tent didn't sound too bad, but I prefer a cabin, less exposure to the elements.

Michiru speaks for the first time in a while, "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, what if nothing works in it, or it's haunted!"

"Can't be that bad," Mach tries to reason with her, " Then again it could, if it's abandoned." I sweatdrop, 'That really helped Machi....'

"What if it's infested by bugs?!" Michiru exclaims, showing a funny face in-between disgust, fear and worry.

"If nothing works then it'll be like a tent, and who cares if it's haunted?" I explain to Michiru, shooting Machi a meaningful look. 'If the cabin happened to be haunted, me or Machi would konso the spirit.'

(If there's something said in between ' ' then it's Sazuki's thinking.)

"Yeah! Who cares if it's haunted?" Machi agrees, giving me a ridiculous wink. "BUT WHAT IF IT'S INFESTED WITH POISONOUS BUGS?!" she screams as I sweatdrop. 'I guess I'll just have to try harder to make then sleep in the cabin tonight.'

"Well if it was...." Michiru starts, "we could die." I sweatdrop at her "positive" thinking and start rummaging through my bag.

"I have bug spray..." I state as I pull out three cans of it, somehow I knew something like this would happen.

"We better hope it works...." Machi says. 'Way to lift up the mood....' "Well Sazuki if we die, you are to blame...." she says. 'Does that mean we're sleeping in the cabin?'

I walk up to the cabin and peer inside through the window, I then open the door and step inside. "It's quite clean for an abandoned cabin...." I state, looking around. There were no cobwebs or anything. It was almost like the cabin was still in everyday use.

Machi had followed behind me with Michiru, "Hey it is..." Machi agrees to my earlier statement. It takes a bit of deciding but we finally figure out who gets what bed. There was one bunk bed and then another single bed. I got the top bunk, Michiru was in the bottom bunk and Machi wanted the single bed.

I get an uneasy feeling once I get up into my bunk, "There's something off about this cabin...." I mumble, mostly to myself. We all unpacked what we would need, changed, and got comfy in our beds. We talked till late into the night, mostly telling ghost stories. I silently laughed at a lot of them, some didn't even have anything to do with ghosts, and the ones that did were quite strange. "That Click Click Slide story is weird.... Poor girl though...." I say, I know I would be pissed off if I got cut in half for no reason. Machi questions us if we would ever cut her in half while she was getting the mail like what happened to the girl in the story.


	4. Side Story 1: Part 2

(This is the second and hopefully last part of this "filler" story.)

Not shifting my eyes from the ceiling, which is where they were positioned now, I simply state, "Well.... It's midnight.... Now what?"

"We could tell more stories?" Michiru puts the first idea that pops into her head out there. I reply unsurely while having a "I don't really want to" face on.

"We could tell good stories?" Machi throws out there. 'What does she mean by "good"?' I'm assuming she noticed my "What's that supposed to mean" face since she quickly continues uncertainly, "Success stories?"

"Or we could talk about guys?" Michiru suggests. 'I guess that's not too bad of an idea. At least it gives me a chance to learn more about them. Sorta.'

I ask Machi who she likes and she begins counting, or at least something similar to it, on her fingers. She finally answers, "Nobody at our school is specifically... Well.... You know...." 'Exactly what do I know?' "What about you?" Machi inquirers. Doing something weird with her fingers, that makes me think that she belongs in a psychiatric ward.

"Well... I haven't seen "anyone" in like a year so..." I hint, hoping that Machi would catch on that I'm referring to everyone I know in the Soul Society.

"How can you not have seen anyone in about a year?" Michiru wonders. 'There's no way she should catch on, unless she was secretly from the Soul Society. But I doubt that.'

"I see," Machi states, doing some wacko movement of her head that resembles a pigeon, "Maybe I could meet "anyone" there," she says, getting some crazy hearts in her eyes. 'I'll definitely start looking online for psychiatric wards once I have internet access again.'

"Right... good luck with that," I say, obviously doubting that something like that could work. A crash was heard from outside. It sounded like it was coming from inside the woods, probably in the clearing we passed by earlier. Machi's high pitched scream pierced my eardrums. It was almost as loud as the crash! "Anyone wanna go check it out?" I didn't exactly feel like fighting anything at that very moment.

"You do it!" Machi volunteered me. "Or wait... are there windows?"

I take a deep breath to calm myself, 'Just when I thought she couldn't get any stupider....' I sigh in defeat, "Fine.... And yes, there are.... There are ones right in front of you..." I inform Machi.

I swing my feet over the side railing and propel myself off the bed using my arms. Just barley missing, landing on Michiru I do manage to land right on top of a flashlight. My face contorts with pain as I do my best to keep the scream of pain from surfacing.

"Is there a bear? Or... an empty?" Machi questions, attempting to refer to Hollows as emptys.

"Yeah.... something with an EMPTY stomach," I state, playing around with her words. Opening the door I take a step outside. Machi quickly follows behind me, I guess she wanted to make sure nothing bad would happen. "Follow me at your own risk," I warn her.

" Yeah yeah... I'll just hide behind you," she informs me with a big smile on her face.

"Take care of it," I say, motioning to my gigai as I exit it, not bothering to eat a pill. They were inside the cabin anyway. "Better safe then sorry," I explain, quoting a famous quote. Taking a look around, I notice that many trees have been broken and slashed in several places. "Those weren't like that earlier... were they?" I question.

"Maybe a bear who can see ghosts attacked the Hollow?" Machi suggested, pitching out a ridiculous idea.

I give her a deadpan look and sarcastically say, "Yeah... That's what happened-" I get cut off by a roar that seemed quite close. I groan. Using my "amazing" speed I jump behind Machi, "You do it. I'm tired. And sleepy..." I inform her while I stifle a yawn.

"WTF I CAN'T FIGHT THAT THING!!!!!" Machi informs me extremely loudly. 'Michiru must think Machi's crazy at this point.'

"What thin-" I stop my sentence short because I just saw the "thing" she was talking about. It had an eerie resemblance to the Click Click Slide ghost from the story we had told earlier. "Ah... That thing..." I finish.

"Huh?" Machi questions as she turns to face the Hollow. "HOLY SHIT IT'S MAILBOX GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!" she exaggerats, considering that the Hollow didn't look too much like a girl. Or a Mailbox for that matter. The Hollow didn't seem to have any legs. It was dragging itself along the ground, just like the girl in the story did. 'The trees must be broken that way because the Hollow was using them to help manuver itself around.'

"Apparently there are some truths to ghost stories..." I state, 'Though some are still completely ridiculous.' "So Machi, want to do the honours?" I ask her, I still didn't feel like fighting a Hollow tonight.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!" Machi agrues, "I guess I could throw a rock at hi- er... her. But that's it..."

I simply say, "Good luck," while raising my hand to salute her. Turning my back to her and the hollow, I head back towards the cabin. 'I wonder how she'll react.'

"NOO DON'T LEAVE ME HERE WITH THIS THING!!!!!" she yells at my retreating back. I just wave lazily, but otherwise ignore her. Machi keeps yelling as I step into the cabin.

This must have been one of the stronger Hollows for it could talk. "You know I can see you, right?" It says. 'No shit Sherlock.' "But you can see me," It continues, "so this might be a real treat."

"Bon appetit," I say as I drag my gigai inside.

"FUCK YOU BASTERD!!!!!!!!!!" Machi yells angrily at either me or the Hollow, I'm not sure who.

"Alright..." I sigh in defeat, there was no way Machi could take it on by herself, "I'll help..." I turn at step back outside the cabin. I direct my attention to the ugly Hollow, "OK, you can either leave now, or fight.... And I don't want to fight..." I trail off.

Apparently the Hollow doesn't like either option, "I will eat you both!!" It informs us, "And chop you in half!!" 'What a wacked up Hollow...'

"Fine... be that way..." I groan. Sighing, I unsheathe my zanpaktou.

"ATTACK!!!!!!" It yells as it well... attacks.

"What the fuck was the reason to yell out 'Attack'?" I ask it, trying to find its reasoning. I jump out of the way of its attack and just as I land I realize that its blow was headed straight for the cabin. I start to silently pray, 'Don't hit the cabin, don't hit the cabin...' We spend probably ten minutes just having a conversation with the Hollow. My mood had been dropping ever since we got here and it was not making it any better. I finally lost my patience and yell, "OH SHUT UP ALREADY!!!!!" I quickly attack it, and it appears severely injured. 'That wasn't even that strong of a hit....' "This is too easy," I say, voicing my thoughts out loud. The Hollow then takes its turn attacking me with its long arm like thing. I jump, evading the slash and run up its arm, getting to its head. I stand there and ask, "Why is there a story after you? You're so weak...." It mumbles something about a master, then finally dies. I re sheathe my zanpaktou and get back into my gigai.

"You know..." I start, "Michiru must think your a complete and utter retard..." I point out to Machi.

"I'll just say it was a crazy collage kid who attacked me," she says, giving me a thumbs up sign. 'I guess she might believe it but... It's still kind of wacked up...'

The next morning when Michiru saw the condition of the trees right outside their cabin, she freaked out and packed everything up. I wasn't sorry to be leaving, I missed my bed. And my soul pager.


	5. Chapter 3: Am I Really that Weak?

Over the few weeks, I have become pretty good friends with Machi and Ichigo. I've even started talking to Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Mizuru and Keigo! It almost feels like I belonged here, but I'll never give up hope for a way back to the Soul Society.

I've battled countless more hollows, sometimes I got to kill them other times Ichigo did the honours. I met Don Kanonji, the guy from the TV show and boy was he wacked... he was actually making hollows when he thought he was cleansing them! We proved him wrong though... and got ourselves on TV in the process! Orihime almost got eaten by her brother turned hollow! But Ichigo saved her just in time! After a while I noticed something was weird about a guy named Uryu Ishida.

"Man I'm glad the exams are over!" I say while checking the score board to see if I placed.

"Let's see... what I get? 39th!" Machi shrieks excitedly, announcing it to the whole world, or to anyone who cared enough to listen.

I scan over the board and finally find my name, "Yes! I got 20th!!!" I exclaim happily. Machi gives me a lame thumbs up sign and I go back to checking the scores. "I did better than Ichigo and Machi, but Chad and Orihime got better scores than me... Oh well, I've been busy fighting hollows, if I placed in the top 10 it would be a miracle!" I think to myself. Mean while, Keigo had started blabbing some nonsense about us being nerds and betraying him because we got in the top 50. I laugh when Ichigo punches him.

Ichigo had checked the scoreboard too and asked Orihime about that Uryu person, I was close to them so I heard every word. I saw them leave somewhere, and I was curious about Uryu too, so I followed them.

When I told Machi where I was going she had a look of disgust on her face, "Uh... I'm not gonna be caught dead there... Sorry... Bye, bye!" I just shrugged my shoulders and left.

At the room, we stopped and poked our heads through the doorway and watched Uryu sow a doll extremely quickly. "Holy! I didn't think it was possible to sow that quickly! Let alone to have a boy do it! But what he said to the girl after... why do something nice then just act mean?" I think.

Ichigo turns away from the door and finally notices me, "Wah?! When'd you get here?!" he yells, obviously startled.

"Oh! Hi Sazuki!" Orihime says in her usual happy tone. I give her a smile in return and look back at Ichigo, "Is he an idiot or was he just too caught up with Uryu to notice me? It's not like I was trying to be sneaky...."

(Just so you know, it part is happening after school, when Sazuki was first looking at the scoreboards it was after school.)

While we were talking I felt someone poke me in the back, and by Ichigo's and Orihime's reactions, the same happened to them. Orihime jumped when she was poked then turned around. Ichigo cursed, and I just turned around.

The person who poked us turns out to be Machi, "Hey guys!" she says smiling and giving us a quick wave.

"Oh, hey Machi, I thought you wouldn't be caught dead here," I tell her looking at her suspiciously. Ichigo was grumbling about the fact he was poked and Orihime had gone back to her usual smile.

"Well you're not in the sewing room anymore right?" Machi clarified as she looked at us all.

"We never were," I inform her.

"We just poked out heads in!" Orihime clarified.

"Oh well, we're away from it now and Uryu isn't here sewing either," says Machi crossing her arms. I give her a dead pan look and point to the sign that says, "Sewing Room". She sweatdrops and says, "Yeah, well.... whatever!"

"Oh! I got to go! Bye guys!" yells Orihime as she runs off somewhere.

"Bye!" I say waving at her back.

"Yeah bye..." was all Ichigo said as he was watching Uryu, who had just left the sewing room.

Machi notices what Ichigo is doing and strikes a really stupid pose and says, "Duna duna duna!" as she walks with her back against a wall. Ichigo is also now sneaking after Uryu. I decide to do a different approach and just walk a couple meters behind him. "The more they try to be inconspicuous the more noticeable they are!" I think sweatdropping as I watch them attempt to sneak around. Machi was the most obvious one, especially since she kept saying, "Duna duna duna!" every once in a while.

Uryu turns a corner so I can no longer see him. I see Machi almost trip and scream, "He defiantly doesn't know we're following him...." I think sweatdropping. I catch up to them, they seem to have stopped for some reason.

Uryu turns around and says, "You can come out now, I know you've been following me. It was obvious."

I sweatdrop and look in Machi's direction, Ichigo does the same. Then we all step out so that Uryu can plainly see us. I focus my attention on Uryu, "There is something strange about him, like how he knew we were following him. Well... Other than the fact that Machi made tons of noise, but I get the feeling like he knew we were following him since even before that..." I think.

Ichigo looks up at Uryu and asks, "What gave it away?" I sweatdrop.

"Why do you think it's awkward?!" Machi exclaims, obviously thinking Ichigo is a complete idiot. By the look on Uryu's face he was thinking the same thing.

Uryu then regains his composure and says, "Well I'm guessing you mean other than Machi...." I give him an amused look and he continues, "You're leaking large amounts of reitsu, that's made it quite obvious." I looked quickly at Machi to see she looked completely lost.

Uryu notices Machi's face and directs his attention to her, "You don't even know what reitsu is?" he sneers, obviously thinking she's an idiot, "Why are you with them anyway?"

I look at Machi, waiting for her answer. "Well I haven't had time to ask about that," she pauses then quickly continues, "But from what you said; reitsu is like spiritual energy, right?" I look at her amazed, "She's smarter than I give her credit for." I think with a smile.

I turn to her, deciding this may be a good time to explain, and say, "You're right, reitsu is spiritual energy, all people who can see ghosts have some in them. Shinigamis' use it to fight."

"I see..." she mumbles, clarifying she understands. When I look back to where Ichigo and Uryu were talking I notice some bait in Uryu's hand. "He's not planning to use that is he?!"

"You're not planning to use that are you? You can endanger lots of innocent people!" I yell as his fingers close on the bait almost breaking it.

"Yeah!" Machi yells in agreement, "Poor people will get eaten who had nothing to do with this!"

Turning a deaf ear to our warnings, Uryu proceeds in breaking the bait. He looks at us and says, "Then I'll just have to destroy all the hollows." He then uses an arrow to kill a hollow then runs off killing more. "So he's a quincy... he must be the last one..." I think as I watch him fight. I notice Ichigo had also run off fighting hollows and had left Kon behind in his body.

Machi looks around, "But won't that draw a lot of hollows?" she asks.

"They're already coming!" I say as I quickly pop a soul candy pill into my mouth. "Run and hide somewhere! I need that gigai in tact!" I tell the pill and it obeys and runs off. I turn my attention back to Machi to see she's throwing rocks at hollows that are coming close to her. "That's not going to do much! Stay close to me!" I tell her as I kill the three hollows she was throwing rocks at.

Machi looks around and asks, "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" I ignore her and kill off some more hollows.

"This way!" I yell as I motion for her to follow me onto a wide street. Not long after, we get surrounded by hollows of all sizes. "Urgh... this is ridicules!!" I exclaim angrily. Machi picks up a brick that was on the ground and throws it. "Damn... there're too many... I guess I have no choice..." I lift my zanpaktou to the sky and call its release, "Spread your wings! Aisutori!" My reitsu grows stronger and my zanpaktou changes. The blade enlarges and it starts out straight then curves a bit and straightens out again. The hilt darkens in colour.

(It was originally a lighter purple, now it's darker.)

Machi looks at my zanpaktou for a bit then says, "Hurry up and kill them! They're coming closer!" She's right of course; the hollows had started closing in on us. "Reitou Hyouga (Freezing Glacier)!" I call, now whenever I slash a part of a hollow it freezes over and breaks soon after. I slash as many hollows as I can, but the strain of releasing my zanpaktou and using an attack in the human world starts to tire me out.

Machi notices that I'm getting worn out and says, "Uh oh...." I keep slashing hollows, receiving tons of cuts and bruises.

I finally beat the rest of the hollows and take a rest to catch my breath. I look at Machi, who had been standing there the whole time and say, "Damn, I wish you were more helpful!"

She looks at me and says, "Not my fault! I've got no way to help." I sigh and start heading towards the park where I can sense Ichigo's reitsu. I hear Machi moan behind me, but I pay her no mind. We get to the park in a few minutes. Standing near the middle of the park I see Ichigo and Uryu fighting off hollows and off to one side are Urahara and Rukia. "Huh? Urahara? Rukia?" I question as I walk up to where they are. Machi finds a place to sit while I stand beside Rukia watching Ichigo fight. "I won't be outdone by him!" I think as I get a firm grip on my zanpaktou and rush to help them.

I slash hollows that are in my way and get to the middle with them. Ichigo turns to me for a brief second then goes back to slaying hollows, while he does that he says, "Hey Sazuki! Great to see you!" I nod and start helping them finish off the hollows when I notice the sky ripping apart.

I jump out of the way of some bullet things shot from Ururu's gun thing. Urahara is visible through the smoke, he smiles and says, "We'll take care of the small fry, you take care of the big guy." He points to a Menos Grande which was coming out of the rip. "How could a small amount of bait bring this many hollows?!" I think, "There has to be something else happening here..."

Ichigo, Uryu and I run to a street where the menos had come out. "How are we gonna fight something that huge?!" I question anxiously. Ichigo runs up to the menos and tries to slash it, but he fails and is knocked back. We try all sorts of things, but it doesn't seem to work until Uryu comes up with tying Ichigo's blade to his head. Even though it was a serious situation I couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sight. They both glare at me and I calm down enough to say, "Sorry.... but you look ridicules!!!" Ichigo gives up on the plan and rushes ahead again, "I swear he has a death wish!" I think as I watch him.

The menos gets ready to fire a cero from its mouth, "If that hits, there won't be anything left of him!!" I think as I watch in shock. Amazingly Ichigo manages to stop the cero and wound the hollow enough for it to retreat. "How can a mere shinigami substitute cause a menos to retreat?! He doesn't even look as worn out as I am and I know he's fought more than me... Am I just that weak?" I think to myself as Ichigo comes back. To my surprise Ichigo collapses and begins giving off tons of reitsu, "If he keeps this up he'll cause a ton of damage!" I watch helplessly as Uryu shots monstrous arrows off into the sky in the hopes of getting rid of Ichigo's extra reitsu. He finally succeeds and then rests.

I stand up and leave without a word, putting my zanpaktou away while I'm at it, "Why am I the weakest one? I'm a fourth seat, yet I'm weaker than a substitute with no previous training! Why?" I think about things like that all the way back to my apartment. I unlock the door and do my homework half-heartedly. I thank the pill that was in my gigai and put it back in the dispenser. I don't even bother going into my gigai, I just lay on the bed and fall into a troubled sleep.


	6. Chapter 4: Machi Finally Pulls Her Own W

My eyes flutter open and I turn to my right to look at the clock. It reads 5: 30am. _'Great...'_ I heave myself up and just sit there for a couple of minutes.

I sigh and finally get up to check the calendar, its tells me that today is Friday. "I wonder if anyone will miss me if I skip school for one day?" I question out loud as I stroll over to where my gigai and backpack are located. I reach for my gigai when my soul pager rings, I instinctively pick it up and flip it open to see that it was only a text message. The text message reads: "wivenrcalglkwerflnsdl :D (h) :) (b) (f) (w)" and says that it was delivered from Rukia's soul pager. _'I guess she must be playing around with her soul pager's functions.' _I'm tempted to text her back, but I know I have more important things to do, think about.

After a revaluation, my mood instantly dampens. Thinking about Rukia makes me think about what happened yesterday and I am instantly depressed again. I leave everything as it is and only grab a quick bite of toast to eat before leaving on a walk to try to take my mind off the thoughts that were swirling around in my head.

I wander around aimlessly until I get to a park with a playground. I sit down in one of the swings and begin rocking back and forth. It was windy today so no one who was out really minded that a seemingly empty swing was moving by itself. Now that I'm inactive, worries rush back into my head. Thoughts like: Will I ever get back? If I ever do get back, will I be punished? Why am I so useless even though I'm a fourth seat? How will this boy change the course of events- surely he will not be overlooked?

I easily lose track of the time while I'm in my own little world and only just snap out of it when two kids that go to my school run past me, making me fall off the swing. Grumbling, I stand up and yell after them, "Watch where you're going! That hurt!"

As I rub my now sore butt, I contemplate whether I should go to the school or not. I won't actually do any learning or work today, I'm way too distracted to even attempt to do math or things like that. I start walking around again, window shopping on the way. I may not be able to buy anything as I am now, but I could always come back for it if something truly catches my eye.

After a while of walking I try looking for a clock. Machi must be wondering where I am, considering this is probably the first time I've ever skipped class. In the end, I decide to head to the school, if only for Machi's sake.

I get to the courtyard just before lunch time. Looking at the windows, I try to catch a quick glance at Machi- to see if she even showed up today. For all I know, she may have skipped like me, though I doubt it- it doesn't seem like a Machi thing to do. "Whatever, whether she's here or not, it's not like I have anything better to do today anyway," I mumble as I go sit in my usual spot high up in a tree near the back of the school.

I sit there quietly until I'm disturbed by the lunch bell- it's the cue for hundreds of students to pour out of the white building, bringing their loud chatter and laughing with them. Some go out for lunch while other merely find a sunny place to sit. So much for my peace and quiet. Though, what was I expecting at a schoolyard?

I survey the area for a glimpse of my brunette friend. I'm broken from the ritual as Machi herself comes towards me, shouting my name. I look down at her as she reaches the base of the big tree, "Sup?" I question, uninterested. One look at her face tells me something had been bothering her. '_Just like me,'_ I think.

"Well..." Machi starts uncertainly, "I was wondering if you could you like help me get stronger? You know... so I can actually help you guys out with hollows and shit."

_'It seems I'm not the only one who started reconsidering their place after yesterday.'_ "But what about school? It's only lunch..." I say, not that I'm really one to talk considering I ditched today. Even though I am at school, being in shinigami form doesn't really make it count.

"Whatever, it's Friday! I know my homework for the classes I've already had and I'm pretty sure I won't have any for P.E..." Machi insists, trying to make me help her out. I know I should help, but I find myself stringing her along anyway.

I shrug nonchalantly and reply, "You know... skipping class isn't good." _'Cause I really have the right to say that... Man I am a hypocrite today...' _I wave my finger at her in a 'tsk tsk' motion and shake my head as if I truly care for her education. Which I don't- her studies are her worries.

She gives me a blank stare and says, "Come on! I'm passing..." I raise an eyebrow. _'Just passing? I'm not even from here and I'm more than just passing... Though I think I may have only worked so hard to try to get my mind off the fact I may never see my true home again.'_

My boredom is the only reason that I'm telling her off right now for wanting to skip school. Honestly, I don't give a damn and I doubt I ever will. "Okay!" I exclaim, making it seem like I've given in after some thought. "I don't really care for the education here anyway... why the hell do I need to know about World War 2? I doubt a hollow would randomly start asking me history questions..."

"That would be really creepy..." Machi says, shivering at the thought. I smile slightly at her antics. She shakes her head as if to banish the thoughts then says, with more force, "So anyways, you can help me out right?" She pauses to look around and notices people staring at her. I then realize that I'm still in shinigami form and smirk. I can only imagine how crazy she must seem to them right now.

Machi quickly thinks up a plan and grabs her phone to make it seem like she's talking on it. I just laugh at her. "So yeah... where should we start?" she asks me.

_'How am I supposed to teach her to fight when I don't know how to make her into a shinigami in the first place?'_ I groan quietly and say, "If you want me to help you, then hang on a minute. I'll be right back." I stand up and shunpo away.

In a few seconds I appear in front of Urahara's shop and hastily make my way inside. I sigh in relief when I notice Urahara lounging near the front. "Urahara!" I call to him, "How do you make a human with high spiritual powers into a shinigami?"

"My my. What's with all the demands? Don't I get a hug first?" Urahara jokes as he sits up to look at me. I give him a semi glare.

"I'm sorry Urahara! But I don't have time! I need to get back to school pronto to train Machi..." I inform him, trailing off at the end.

"Ah I understand now!" he says, waving his fan. Even though I can't see half his face I can picture a huge smirk growing. "You agreed to train Machi but you have no idea how and you don't want to back out of it to in case she starts to regard you as untrustworthy!" I look away and pout, blushing from embarrassment slightly. _'Damn! He's sharper than I give him credit for...' _

He smirks wider and fans himself, "Don't worry my dear Sazuki, I shall help you!" My mood instantly brightens and I turn to face him expectantly. "For a price of course!" My head drops in disappointment and Urahara laughs. "You didn't think I'd reveal a secret to you without me getting something in return, did you?" He questions me with that annoying smirk still on his face.

I groan, "Okay fine... what do I have to do?" I cross my fingers in hopes that it's not that bad of a job.

"All you have to do..." he tells me slowly, trying to play up the atmosphere. I glower at him, signalling he should hurry up since I really don't have the time. "Is not die," he finishes with a flourish.

My jaw drops and I fall over at his words. "T-that's all?" I cry, astonished. I was honestly expecting something like cleaning his store or running errands. Maybe even a perverted suggestion, but not this. Today just might be a good day afterall.

He nods his head and smiles, "So do you think you can do that for me Sazuki?" I nod my head happily. He then ushers me to get closer to him. I walk up to him and he hands me a piece of paper. "Everything you need to know is on that little sheet," he tells me, "Now hurry along, you don't want to keep Machi waiting any longer." I nod my head and smile at him appreciatively. As I leave the store I hear Urahara call out, "And don't forget to visit again soon!"

"I won't!" I promise him as I shunpo back to the school. On my way back I try to stifle a sneeze. '_I hope I'm not catching a cold or something... Can shinigamis even get colds?'_

I tuck the piece of paper away before smiling at Machi who looks really annoyed right now. I must have taken longer than I thought talking to Urahara. I sweatdrop slightly as I say in a happy tone, "Okay, we can go now!"

"Finally!" I hear Machi grumble, not even trying to hide her annoyment about how I took way longer than I said I would.

"There's a forest nearby that we can use for your training grounds," I inform her as I begin walking away. She follows closely behind me still grumbling about how late I was.

After a few minutes of silent walking, a horrible shrieking noise pierces my eardrums. I whirl around ready to draw my zanpaktou when I notice that it's only Machi singing. Very, very badly. Even the song is ridiculous, only repeating four words over and over again. I'm tempted to ask about it, but I decide I'd rather not know who's responsible for such an atrocity. I take a deep breath then turn back around and continue on my way towards the forest.

A few more minutes pass and Machi breaks the accumulating silence once more, "So where are we going?" _'Didn't I just tell her this? Does she have a short term memory span or something?'_

"I know this great spot in the woods. It's this huge clearing and it's pretty far away from where people might stumble onto us," I answer, giving her more information than before. I then remember that there was something that looked like a material list on the sheet I got from Urahara so I quickly check it. Thank god I did. "Looks like we're going to need to make some detours first though."

"Okay?" Machi says, uncertainly as she follows me when I make a sharp turn away from the direction of the forest.

I stop in front of a hardware store and turn to Machi, "Okay Machi, since I'm a shinigami," I motion to my attire, " You get to do the shopping. We're going to need a shovel or two and some rope."

Machi stares at me wide-eyed, "Are you going to murder me or something?" I smirk at her, considering it's pretty close to what I'm about to do. She walks quickly inside, trying to get away from me. I wait patiently as she purchases all the necessary equipment. _'I hope she has enough money, because there's another stop after this.'_

While Machi is at the counter I notice that she also requests a knife. I laugh slightly as I catch on to why she would want it. I don't want to burst her bubble but... "I hope you know that regular objects can't hurt shinigami," I call to her. Machi mumbles something then goes back to purchasing things.

When Machi walks out with the supplies in a plastic bag I turn and head towards a convenience store, our last destination before the forest. I stop in front of the store and turn to her, "I hope you have enough money on you... You now need to purchase five days worth of food for two people." I notice her "Are you fucking kidding me?" expression and quickly say, "Don't worry! I'll pay you back after your training!"

"You'd better..." she grumbles as she heads inside to buy what I asked for.

As Machi walks back outside I eye what she's carrying. Everything she has can be instant made, which will be a good thing, but she also failed to buy anything that had any nutritional value what so ever. "Interesting choice of food," I tell her as I rummage through the items. I grab a bag of chips and start eating them. "What?" I question as she glares at me, "I've barely eaten all day!"

Machi then snatches the bag out of my hands and says, "Can shinigami honestly get hungry...?"

I ponder what she had asked. It's actually a good question. Souls shouldn't get hungry unless they're close to becoming hollows, and yet I still feel an emptiness in my stomach. At last, I come up with an explanation, "Not exactly, but I've been pretending to be human so long it's become a habit."

She then sticks her tongue out at me and I return the favour. I grab back the bag and say, "Anyway, come on let's go." I begin walking away again.

Machi glares at me once again and remarks, "You do realize right now, that a bag of chips is floating..."

I sweatdrop, "Good point." I quickly eat whatever chips are left in the bag and then give it back to Machi, "Problem solved."

She puts the bag in the garbage and says, "Whatever... Let's blow this Popsicle stand." She walks ahead of me then pauses, "The one thing I forgot..." She mumbles then resumes on walking. I quicken my pace to catch up considering she doesn't even know where we're heading.

We get to the clearing shortly thereafter and Machi heaves a sigh of relief as she drops everything she had been carrying, which is honestly quite a lot. I couldn't help her because then random objects would be floating and that wouldn't be very good... "Okay! Grab the shovels Machi!" I instruct as I take out the piece of paper once again.

"What the fuck... I can barely read this... Damn his handwriting!" I mumble to myself. I notice Machi eyeing me and I rapidly fix my slip up, "I mean... damn MY messy handwriting..." I smile sheepishly, all the while sweatdropping.

Machi gives me a blank stare then passes me a shovel, "What the fuck... Whatever..."

I take the shovel and make my way to four different spots where I make a mark with the shovel. After I make the fourth mark I turn towards Machi and say, "Okay, now you must dig a hole that reaches all four of these spots." I motion to each of them. "I'll tell you when it's deep enough, but first let's work on the size." Truly, this hole should have been dug before I brought her here, but the workout will make her stronger.

"Okay..." Machi says as she gets to work shovelling the heavily packed dirt.

While Machi is digging like crazy, I drop my shovel and find a good sturdy tree to lean against. I sit down with my back against the tree and watch Machi work.

After a little while of digging, Machi looks at me with a questioning look. I tell her, "I'm already a shinigami. I don't need this training, remember?" This may be a little harsh, okay, this is pretty harsh, but this should strengthen her. She says nothing and gets back to work. I frown, her silence is kind of discouraging.

Digging the hole is a lot of work. It takes Machi two days and a night, with some help from me (I pitied her), to make it to the right standards. There was time for eating and sleeping of course, I'm not that much of a dictator.

On the morning of the third day of training I peer into the hole and give her a thumbs up, "Great job! It looks good!" I go back to the supplies and grab the rope. I go back to the hole and lower the rope. "You can use this to climb down inside, unless you want to jump right in. Though it looks pretty deep..." I inform her of her choices. But something seems like it's missing.

Machi looks into the hole and that back at me. "What... no... I just spent two days digging!" she cries. She does look exhausted, and I can't blame her for it either.

I recheck the little paper. The next step brings an evil smirk to my face. "_Oh this is going to be fun!'_ As I think more carefully about how to do the next step, I realize I should give her time to rest. "Yeah..." I say, "You should rest up before we do the next step."

She lifts an eyebrow at me, clearly sceptical about the sudden change in mood. "Okay..." she says, uncertainty dripping from every word. "I guess that's good for now..."

An hour passes by. After I think she has had enough time to rest, I stand up. I take a special glove out of a random pocket and put it on. I smack Machi and her soul tumbles out of her body. As she tumbles I can hear the clanking of her soul chain. '_I hope she can do this. If not, I'm going to hate slaying her...'_

"What the fuck?" she yells angrily. I swiftly grab my zanpaktou and bring it down upon her soul chain, severing it. I wait a bit for Machi to notice the fact that she should no longer be able to breath.

"Okay so... You're not a serial killer... or an assassin... but WHAT THE FUCK!" she exclaims before she cuts herself off as she beings to pant. Now time for the next step on the list.

"Next up is..." I say slowly, to build suspense. "This is going to be fun!" I can't stop myself from exclaiming, smirking once again. This step has to be my favourite by far. Machi just glares at me. "You've got five seconds to start running," I tell her. She looks at me confused then takes off when I reach two. She must have sensed that I wasn't kidding around, this is quite serious. I keep counting until I finally reach zero.

"Zero!" I call to her. I start to chase after her, but not going full speed because a human would not be able to keep up, and start yelling out kido spells, "Hado 31: Shakkaho!" I fire a ball of red energy from my hand. It barely misses her and creates a ditch where it hits the ground. Machi eyes the ditch then speeds up.

After a couple of those I switch it up and yell, "Hado 33: Sokatsui!" This time I fire a burst of blue spiritual energy at her, similar to Shakkaho, but over a wider area and with more power.

"HOLY SHIT!" I can hear Machi scream as she desperately tries to dodge my kido spell.

"Try to hit me!" I instruct her, "Come on!" I then resume yelling out kido spells. She ignores me and keeps on running away, not bothering to look back. I frown and speed up slightly, making her escape harder. "I'm going to keep chasing you until you manage to strike me!" I inform her.


End file.
